Saturday, February 13, 2016

Apple is the richest company in the world by valuation and wealth it has on hand in terms of cash, product profolio, and, more importantly, the following that is the envy of just about everyone in the world. So, when two high-profile Apple executives go onto a popular fan/Apple centric podcast instead of CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC, or another national news organization, you have to wonder who Jon Gruber is and why he was selected for this interview that is a must-listen episode even if you're not a fan of his blog, Daring Fireball, or his podcast, The Talk Show.

Here is the link for this week's episode where Gruber interviewed Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi.

I love to get into it more when I listen to the podcast again. It was a very unique experience for Gruber and the listeners. Apple fans are familiar with the top echelon of Apple who brought us so many of today's best consumer products but it is almost always in a setting that is carefully controlled and choreographed. I'm sure Cue and Federighi were coached by Apple's publicity and marketing teams and they know their stuff, but it was still good to hear them address some issues that a few have brought up like Apple's software quality, which recently has been questioned about their unofficial "it just works" motto.

To be sure, what these issues have been brought up by tech pundits and not necessarily the hundreds of millions of users. However, I think there is a slight disconnect at times between how apps work and how they should communicate with users in terms of use. Apple's OS X and iOS has become much more complex since the days of the original iPhone. Users asked for new features and got it.

It does feel that Apple need to look at they balance between giving users options and not overwhelm them while not breaking anything else in the process.

Some of the criticisms are well deserved and I'm sure Apple appreciate it. Others, however, not so much. You'll have to decide that for yourself.